Simulation VIP speeds development of IoT designs

The simulation VIP, which is available now, supports all of the major logic simulators and enables verification engineers to perform in-depth verification with SystemVerilog-UVM test benches. The assertion-based VIP, available in early 2016, supports the Cadence JasperGold formal verification platform, which enables design engineers to rapidly verify that their daily design changes are bug-free.

The newly announced ARMv8-M architecture is focused on security, scalability and efficiency, which includes the ARM TrustZone technology. This technology takes a system approach to protect peripherals such as secure memory, crypto blocks, keyboards and screens from software attacks.

The TrustZone technology is targeted specifically for small real time embedded microcontroller and system-on-chip (SoC) designs, including security functionality for IoT applications. Designers can take full advantage of the TrustZone technology by implementing the AHB5 interface, which is the latest version of the specification.

The new AHB5 protocol extends this security foundation to the SoC system. The protocol provides an efficient mechanism to manage and control access to secure SoC resources, offering a way to help ensure that secure resources can only be accessed by trusted software. The Cadence VIP solution enables existing AHB customers to upgrade to the newest version of the specification and verify that their designs work with the new features and functionalities.

The availability of VIP is key to the rapid adoption of new interface standards, as every new standard challenges verification engineers to learn it well enough to be able to validate their SoC designs. The Cadence VIP solution for AMBA protocols includes simulation VIP, assertion-based VIP, accelerated VIP, interconnect VIP and interconnect performance analysis tools.

“Our close partnership with ARM has enabled us to add support for AHB5 to the Cadence VIP catalogue,” said Erik Panu, Corporate Vice President of the IP Group, Cadence. “This addition to the widely used VIP solution for AMBA interfaces will further help our customers to be first to market with innovative products.”

“As ARM IP and technologies expand into IoT and other emerging applications, VIP is essential for rapid customer deployment,” said Andy Nightingale, vice president of system IP marketing, systems and software group, ARM. “Cadence has been a trusted source for high quality VIP for AMBA interfaces for more than 12 years and consistently delivers support for new interfaces such as AHB5.”